Our 2023 Annual Report celebrates our recent progress towards creating a world in which humans can coexist with wild cats. While human-cat conflict is a very real threat to wild cats while also posing challenges to human communities, Panthera, our partners, and communities take measures to promote coexistence between people and these iconic felines. When wild cats can live safely alongside people, everyone benefits.
Look inside our Annual Report for stories from the past year about your favorite wild cats and the places where we ensure they can live peacefully with people. From Kafue National Park in Zambia to Malaysian Borneo, wild cats create a healthier world for us all.
Here’s a sneak peek into the stories of some amazing catscapes (ecosystems in which multiple species of wild cats live), which made leaps and bounds for felines last year.
Greater Kafue Ecosystem, Zambia
With Kafue National Park at its center, the Greater Kafue Ecosystem houses three big cat species: lions, leopards and cheetahs. Our comprehensive efforts here, including using livestock enclosures, GPS collars, wildlife values credits and snare collection, emphasize the importance of integrated conservation strategies that incorporate local communities, robust law enforcement and protection partnerships and scientific research to ensure a future for wild cats.
Deramakot/Tangkulap Forest Reserve, Malaysian Borneo
Sunda clouded leopards and marbled cats, two small wild cat species deeply reliant on the forest habitats of Borneo, are seriously threatened by habitat loss, agricultural expansion, direct killing, and prey scarcity. In this critical, highly biodiverse catscape. We collect data on these wild cats using camera surveys, training sessions on community mapping and advising governments to reduce poaching and increase patrols. The program has now collected 10 years of data.
Guatemala-Honduras Binational Corridor
Panthera has supported partners who participate in counter-wildlife crime patrols in this region plagued by poaching of wildlife, including jaguars, pumas, peccaries and tapirs. We forged partnerships with local communities and ranchers through education on mitigation strategies, model farms and anti-predation measures.
Niokolo-Koba National Park, Senegal
Niokolo-Koba is an important habitat for some of West Africa’s last lions and leopards. In 2023, we expanded park protection, infrastructure development and capacity building, aiming to restore populations of these threatened big cats.
Olympic Peninsula, Washington, United States
The Olympic Cougar Project in Washington State made strides for a puma population threatened by a lack of habitat connectivity. In 2023, the program supported the creation of a statewide Washington Habitat Connectivity Action Plan, conducted a feasibility study of wildlife connectivity infrastructure and worked closely with Indigenous communities to launch new policy interventions.
Taman Negara National Park, Malaysia
Taman Negara National Park, situated in Peninsular Malaysia, is a refuge for some of Asia’s most endangered wildlife, including the rare Malayan tiger. We’ve continued to witness a long-term reduction in poaching, especially in the park’s Kenyir section, where zero poaching snares have been reported over the last three years. Last year, we also helped train hundreds of personnel to improve enforcement and legal response to wildlife crimes.
“Panthera sought to deepen our commitment to building a world in which wild cats and humans thrive alongside one another. We have all learned a valuable lesson: the era of isolated wildlife sanctuaries is over. Today, every conservation project is a building block in fostering coexistence between wild cats and human communities.”
Fred Launay, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
Here are just a few statistics illustrating our shared impact on wild cats in 2023.
Téké communities in Gabon we consider partners and who will eventually co-manage a community reserve for lions. In 2023, we completed the construction of a specialized lion release enclosure for reintroduction in Gabon’s Batéké Plateau National Park.
Rangers from Indigenous and local communities employed by Malaysia’s DWNP to play a critical role in tiger conservation.
Square kilometers of protected area inside Zambia’s Kafue National Park and three adjoining Game Management Areas. This is a critical habitat for lions, leopards, cheetahs and their prey.
Pumas fitted with GPS collars to help map their movements and determine the greatest threats to their survival.
Survival rate of tigers in Thailand’s Western Forest Complex (WEFCOM) and Dong Phrayayen-Khao Yai Complex in Thailand, Kenyir in Malaysia, Manas in India, and Shuklaphanta in Nepal.
Fishing cats fitted with GPS collars in southern Thailand, revealing new data on this rare species threatened in this region by habitat fragmentation and human-cat conflict.
“Panthera’s science-based, data-driven approach to wild cat conservation continues to advance while our conservation action best practices continue to spread globally.”
Jon Ayers
Board Chair
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© Sebastian Kennerknecht
